Q: So how much rent will the kids pay when they turn 18? A. £70,000

Renters in London could pay £70,000 a year by 2033. Photo: (c) Peter Dazeley

Can't buy, can't rent. Where will future generations live?

Babies entering the world in 2015 can expect to pay up to £70,000 a year in rent in London by the time they turn 18, should rental growth in the capital continue to soar at its current rate of 9pc.

Rents in London, the most expensive city in Britain in which to be a tenant, could see costs jump from £1,413 to £6,135 a month when children born this year celebrate their 18th birthday, according to new data from the website Rentify.

The average rate of rental growth in the UK is currently set at 7.5pc - which translates into a 135pc increase over the next 18 years.

Average rents in Newcastle – one of the cheapest places to live at the moment (£528 a month) - would rise to £795 by 2033.

Britain is in the throes of a housing stock crisis, inflating both house prices and rental costs, particularly in the supply-stricken South-East.

House prices in the UK rose by more than £100 a day in April, according to recent data from the Halifax, taking the average value across Britain to nearly £200,000 - and forcing more people to stay in rented accommodation.

This is set to continue as momentum and price rises return to the housing market after a muted six months, following the election result and the end of a period of political uncertainty that dampened demand.

“The UK property market looks unlikely to change in the near future unless there's a radical change in the new government's housing policy. We have a shortage of housing and a huge amount of demand in the UK for somewhere to live. We need to build more houses in the UK, particularly in London, to stop this madness," said George Spencer, chief executive of Rentify.

The current rate of annual rental growth is highest in London, followed by Oxford, Bristol, Norwich, Manchester and Birmingham.